Have Coleman, Will Travel (1946-1953)

When the war ended, Coleman's business boomed. Since the company had been manufacturing products for the armed services during the war, the inventories of normal recreational products were depleted, and there was an enormous backlog of demand for its regular products. And returning GIs had a familiar attachment to the Coleman name, given the tremendous success of the field stove. In peace time, American families had money, a new interstate highway system, and fancy new cars! Lower prices made cars affordable for many families, and with this newfound mobility came the urge to travel and explore. Car camping was all the rage. Travelers loaded up the station wagons and took off. Roadways were improving, but hotels in those days weren’t on every corner. Instead of check-in times, Vacationers simply pulled off the road and made camp on the roadside.

A fold-up camp stove that W.C. Coleman had first developed two decades earlier quickly found favor with the auto camping crowd. To retailers, the two-burner stove was billed as a "keen cooker and a quick seller". It found its way onto front porches and into hunting lodges, vacation cabins and camping trailers. Along with the lantern, the camp stove made an ideal traveling companion and was a must have for the family getaways.